Machine for cleaning and separating grain.



A. N. ARNBSON.

MACHINE FOB. CLEANING AND SEPABATING GRAIN.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 10, 1907 Patented Dec. 22, 1908.

ANDREW N. ARNESON, OF WEGDAHL, MINNESOTA.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND SEPARATING GRAIN.

norm-1,555. 7

Speciflcationof Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 22, 1908.

Application filed. May 10, 1907. Serial N 0. 372,937.

To all whom 'itmay concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW N. ARNEsoN, a citizen-of the United States,residing at Wegdahl, Chippewa'county, Minnesota, have invented certam-Improvements in Machines for Cleaning and Separating Grain, of which thefollowing is a s ecification.

This invention re ates to improvements in machines designed forseparating all kinds of seeds, or grain, and particularly toimprovements in machines designed for removing wildoats, weed-seeds, andother refuse from oats, wheat, for other grain.

The object of the invention is to rovide a machine of large capacitywhich wi 1 make a thorough separation, removing wild oats, Weed-seedsand other refuse material from tame oats, wheat, or other grain.

Another obj ectof the invention is to provide a machine that maybeadvantageously used for separating Wheat from oats, or one kind of seedor grain from another. I

The. invention consists generally in the constructions and combinationshereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims;

In-the accompanying drawings, forming part. of the specification; Figure1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal vertical section of the machine. Fig. 3 is a detail sectionon line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a p'artial plan section on line 44 ofFig. 2.

In all of the drawings, 2 re resents the frame of the-machine which maye of an suitable construction and which is provide with the usual hopper3 having a suitable feed board or gate 4. Mounted in the frame of themachine are the upper and lower longitudinally reciprocating 'shoes 5and 6. The upper shoe, at its rear end, is referably mounted on thehopper of the madliine b the pivoted hanger 6. At its forward en it isadjustably supported u on the pivoted supports 7, which are suitab ysecured to' the frame of the-machine. The lower shoe at'its forward endis .adjustably supporteduponthe pivoted support '8, and atits rear-endit is adjustably sup orted upon the pivoted hangera-9.. The ower end ofthe support 7 is preferably connected to the upper portion of thesupport 8, and a connecting rod 10, that l is adjustably connected tothe upper end of the support 8, is also connected to a suitablecrank-pin on the fan-shaft 11. The fanshaft is provided with a suitablepinion 12 and is o erated by a sprocket chain 13 extending om a suitabledrive-Wheel 14. By this means the shoes areoppositely reciprocated andthereby balance each other.

Mounted in the upper shoe is an endless apron 15, preferably formed ofcarpet, or carpet covered with jute, woolen, or other suitable fabrichaving a long na This apron is supported at its upper on with a roll 16that has its support preferably in slots 17 in the end of the shoe. Atits lower end, the apron 15 is supported upon a roll 18- having itssupport in s ots formed in the adjustable bearing-bars 19. One of thesebars I provide for each end of the roll 18, and said bars are pivotallysupported at their lower ends upon the shoe, and are rovided at theirupper ends with the slotte extensions 20, through which pass the lockingscrews 21. By this means, when the endlessapron is put into the shoe,the upper roller 16 is first put into position with its journalsextending into the s ots 17; the lower, or forward, end of the apron hasits roller 18 mounted in any of the s ots in the bar 19, and after saidapron is in position, the bars 19 are moved outwardly from the end ofthe shoe so as to make taut the endless apron passing around the rollersI 16 and 18.

Whenever it is desired to change the angle of the endless apron 15, itis only necessary to loosen the screws 21 and then move the bars 19 sothat the shaft of the roll 18 may be removed from the slots in said bar19. This shaft may be moved either up or down and brought into otherslots or recesses in said bars 19 and thereby the angle or inclinationof the endless apron 15 may be adjusted to suit the character of thegrain to be operated upon. Beneath the upper part of the apron 15 is adeck or plate 22 formed of sheet metal, wood, or other suitablematerial. This furnishes a smooth, rigid surface for the up-hill side ofthe endless apron 15.

The shaft of the u per roller 16 is provided 7 with a suitable ratc et34, and, as shown in Fig. 1, there are two dogs or awls 35 and 36mounted upon the frame of t e machine-and the hopper 26 must pass.

each provided with aspring ratchet engaging 1 the short section ofwire-cloth or screen- 5 the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 34. With thismaterial 23 arranged upon suitable supports construction the ratchetwheels are turned l beneath the upper part of the endless apron onenotch or step with each forward or backward reciprocation of the shoe.If preferred however, one of the dogs or pawls 35 or 36 may be omittedfrom the machine without destroying its operativeness or efficiency.

Beneath the upper part of the downwardly moving side of this apron andin close proximity thereto, I prefer to arrange a short section ofwire-cloth 23, over which the under surface of the apron must rub as itpasses downward. Below the screen section 23 and apron 15 I provide adeck or floor to the shoe consisting preferably of a sheet-metal plate24 at the lower end of which is a transverse open spout 25. Below thelower end of the upper shoe is a hopper 26 provided with a suitable feedopening, and below this hopper is the air-trunk 27 of the fan 28, saidfan, as before stated, being mounted upon the fan shaft 11.

The fan 28 is inclosed in a suitable casin 29 which is connected to theair-trunk 27 an into which trunk the material falling from I also preferto provid elow the mouth of the air-trunk an adjustable drop-board 31 bywhich the direction of the current of air passing from the fan may beregulated. The lower shoe 6 is provided with the usual removable screen31 and above this screen is a second removable screen 32 which isprovided with a transverse spout 33.

The drop-board 31, hereinbefore referred to, is located near the end ofthe air-trunk and in position to direct upwardly the current of airpassing from the fan. This current of air comes in contact with thegrain and any foreign material that may be mixed therewlth that fallsfrom the hopper 26, whereby the light material is blown out and thegrain or heavy material falls upon the adjustable drop-board 31 and thenasses to the screen 32 in the lower shoe. y adjusting the drop-board 31,by turning it upon its pivot, or moving it u ward or downward, the forceand direction 0 the air'current that is blown through the air-trunk 27may be regulated.

Operation: The fan is set in motion and the shoes are reciprocated. Thesmooth, heavy grain will ass downwardly over the a ron 15 and wil dropinto the hop er 26. T e light, wild oats, Weed-seeds, an other similarmaterial, most of which is rough, or provided with beards, will adhereto the upwardly moving surface of the endless apron 15 and be carried 11ward and over the upper roller 16. Part of t is material will fall uponthe sheet-metal plate 24 and part of itmust be removed by suitablemeans. The means 15. The surface of the apron rubs over this screensection, and any adhering wild oats, Weed-seeds, or other refusematerial will be rubbed off and brought onto the late 24 and will passinto and out through t e spout 25. The smooth grain which passes downover the apron 15 will fall into the hopper 26 and through this into thespout or air-trunk 27. The force and direction of the blast from thistrunk can be regulated by the adjustable drop-board 31. The grain willstrike this drop-board and will be directed onto the screens in thelower shoe by which an additional separation will be made. Material thatis removed by the upper screen 32 will be taken out by the side spout33. Any fine material that has not been removed by the uplpler shoe willdrop through the screen 34 w e the clean grain will pass over the tailof this screen. If preferred, one of the ratchets 35 or 36 may beremoved, in which case the apron will be moved only during one movementof the shoe. The apron 15 and plate or deck-section 22 and the screensection 23 may be readily removed from the upper shoe, the spout 25 maybe covered and a gang of ordinary sieves may be laced in said shoe andthe machine will then e ada ted for use as an ordinary fanning mill.This machine may also be advantageously used for separating split orbroken peas or beans from whole ones. The beans or peas being fedthrough the hop er to the upper end of the endless apron, the wholebeans or peas will pass down over the apron, while the split or brokenones will be carried upward by the apron and drop ed over its u per end.

I do not limit myself to the deta' s of construction, as the same may bevaried in many particulars without departing from my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. The'combination, with a frame, of a vi- .brating shoe mountedtherein, an inclined endless apronv composed of material having a longnap such as ute mounted in said shoe, a hopper arranged to deliver thegrain upon the upper end of the upwardly moving portion of said apron,and a screen section such as wire cloth arranged under said apron andwith which the downwardly moving portion of said apron has a rubbingcontact.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a suitableframe, of a vibrating shoe mounted therein, an inclined endless apro'narranged in said shoe and composed of a fabric having a rough or longnap surface, a screen section arranged to contact with the downwardlymoving portion of said apron on the under side thereof, a side delivthatI have shown for this purpose consist of l ery spout provided on saidshoe below said screen section, a hop er device located beneath thelower end 0 said apron and adapted to receive the grain dischargedtherefrom, and an air trunk located below said hopper and into whichsaid hopper discharges, and a blast fan arranged to create a current ofair through said trunk and beneath said hopper.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day of May1907.

I ANDREW N. ARNESON.

Witnesses:

O. A. FosNEs, ANNA LANDQUEST.

